JP2929824B2 - User interface control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for defining or changing a user interface (specifically, a display mode or an input mode) of an information processing apparatus, for example.

[0002]

[Prior art]

(1) Window system and the method used in the user interface construction environment on it In the case of creating software that realizes the user interface in a device that realizes some function such as an information processing device, In order to reduce the number of components, a component group is prepared in advance. In a system for interactively creating and using a user interface, a user interface is created by selecting an appropriate one from among these user interface building components and arranging them on a screen.

[0003] The user interface thus created usually supports the editing of hierarchical relationships for display area management.

[0004] In the following, this hierarchical relationship is defined by a plurality of users.
A description will be given of functions provided when viewed as a means for operating interface building components collectively.

In many window systems, the user
The interface is realized by hierarchically configuring a plurality of user interface construction components. Specifically, the user interface construction component displayed on the screen is associated with the display area of the component. Hereinafter, the display performed on the screen corresponding to the user interface construction component is referred to as a view.

A view has a parent-child relationship corresponding to the inclusion relationship of the display area. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the screen 11 'displays the views 21', 22 ', 31', and 32 ', the screen 11' is considered as one of the views, and the relation to this is shown in FIG. It can be expressed as a hierarchical structure as in b). Here, in FIG.
Data structures 2, 31, and 32 correspond to the respective views, and store and manage the attributes of each view, for example, the type of the view, the position and color at the time of display, and the like. The solid line connecting the data structures corresponding to the views indicates the parent-child relationship of the views. In this figure, the one drawn above is the parent of the one written below. For example, 21 is 11 children and 31 and 32 parents. Also, multiple views with the same parent can be considered as siblings. FIG.
(A) 21 'and 22' are siblings. The siblings have an order relationship, and when the display areas overlap on the screen, the displays are superimposed according to this order relationship, and one display is hidden and is not displayed. In FIG. 6A, the display of 21 'is hidden by the display of 22'. In parent and child, the display of the child always hides the display of the parent. Hereinafter, this hierarchical relationship is referred to as a view hierarchy. This hierarchical relationship has a tree structure and defines the relationship between a single parent and a plurality of children in multiple layers.

In practice, a data structure corresponding to a view is realized, for example, as a structure in a programming language, and the parent-child relationship is maintained by storing a pointer pointing to another structure in the structure.

As a specific example of a view, it can be considered that a button existing on the screen and operated by a mouse and a text field for inputting and outputting a numerical value and a character string correspond to the view. In practice, these buttons and text fields may consist of multiple views. In addition, by arranging multiple buttons and text fields on a form that is a mount view,
A window and a dialog box for the program to display information are configured.

In the parent-child relationship defined by the structures shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the child's view cannot be displayed outside the area of the parent view. In other words,
The display of the child's view is clipped by the area of the parent's view. For example, the view 32 'in FIG.
When moving to the right to the position shown in FIG.
The hatched portion 32 'in (a) is not displayed, and this portion can be seen by the view 11' below.

A component for constructing a user interface usually has an attribute for determining whether or not to display the view. Hereinafter, this is called a display attribute. The display attribute is a boolean value; if this is true, the view is displayed; if false, the view is not displayed. In the view hierarchy, when the display attribute of the parent view is false, the descendant view is not displayed irrespective of the true or false of the display attribute of itself. For example, if the display attribute of the view 21 'is false in FIG. 6A, the descendants of the views 31, 32 are not actually displayed on the screen.

The display position of the child's view is usually defined with respect to the coordinate system defined on the parent's view. Therefore, when the parent's view moves on the screen, the child's view maintains a relative positional relationship with the parent's view. That is, the screen moves by the same amount as the movement of the parent view with respect to the screen. For example, in FIG. 6A, when the view 21 ′ moves rightward to the position shown in FIG. 7B, the views 31 ′ and 3
2 'is moved by the same amount as the parent view 21'.
The position shown in FIG. That is, the views 31 'and 32' as children maintain their relative positions with respect to the view 21 'as a parent.

There is also a window system that changes the size of a child's view when the size of a parent's view changes.

When changing the color of the parent view, only the color of the parent view is changed and the child's view is not affected. In other words, the setting of the attribute for the parent is not affected by the change as to the position as if it is transmitted to the child, and the change is not affected as to the color as not transmitted to the child. Regarding the size, the treatment differs depending on the system. When affected, they are applied recursively to descendants.

In the window system, it is necessary to manage a large number of windows. By using this framework, the difficulty in operating a plurality of windows is reduced. For example, once the application programmer has defined the hierarchy of views, if he wants to move them together, he only has to operate on the views that are their own parent. By manipulating the display attributes of a certain view, it is possible to change the state of all the display of its descendants as a result.

In a user interface construction environment for an application program operating on a window system, a function for a user to define a view hierarchy is provided. For example, the layout of views is specified on the screen by an operation similar to a drawing tool described later for each user interface construction component, and the hierarchical relationship of the views is further defined. The definition of the hierarchical relation of the view is performed by, for example, placing the child on the screen so that the display area of the child completely enters the display area of the parent. In addition, while defining the layout of a view on a window, there are many cases in which a parent-child relationship other than the parent-child relationship between the view corresponding to the window and the newly defined view cannot be defined. That is, the concept of defining the hierarchical structure of views in a multi-layer manner is not provided to the application programmer. Some do not allow for a hierarchical definition of the view hierarchy. In this case, it is allowed to define a child's view only on one of the views corresponding to the whole screen or its immediate children, and all views defined there are siblings. (2) Method used in the drawing tool In the drawing tool, means for operating a plurality of displayed objects collectively is provided in a form different from the user interface construction environment.

A drawing tool displays a paper image on a normal screen and arranges graphic elements such as straight lines, rectangles, polygons, circles, ellipses, and character strings on the screen as graphic objects. Draw a perfect circle. The position and size of the graphic object can be determined by a pointing device such as a mouse.

The attributes of the graphic object include the line width and color. A typical operation for setting these is to select a graphic object using a pointing device and select an attribute value from another menu to set the attribute of the selected graphic object. Is to be done.

Many drawing tools provide a function of grouping a plurality of graphic objects into one to handle them as if they were a single graphic object. The group of graphic objects can be operated as a single object. When the movement is performed, each graphic object which is an element of the group moves by the same amount. When changing the size, usually, the size of each graphic object is changed in such a manner that the vertical and horizontal ratios of the size between the graphic objects are preserved. When a color or line width change operation is performed on a group, the change is performed on all the graphic objects constituting the group. The grouping function of the drawing tool is often performed by selecting a plurality of graphic objects and selecting the grouping function from a menu.

The management of the graphic object is realized, for example, by using the same method as the management of the data structure corresponding to the view described above. For example, FIG.
(A) Graphic object 2 on screen 11 'as shown on the left
When 1 ', 22', and 23 'are arranged, a data structure as shown on the right side of the figure can be considered.

The grouping can be expressed by having a virtual parent for the group. In FIG. 8A,
The grouping of 21 'and 22' can be realized by placing a virtual parent such as 31 in FIG. 8B. Hereinafter, this virtual object is referred to as a grouping object. Grouped graphic objects 21 ', 22'
Is regarded as an operation on the grouping object 31 'having no display form, and the result of the operation is reflected on the children 21' and 22 '. As a result, it is possible to simultaneously change the position and size, set the color, duplicate, and the like for a plurality of graphic objects.

The grouping of drawing tools can usually be performed in a multi-layered manner. However, only graphic objects existing at the highest level can be targeted for grouping, and in FIG. 8B, only 31 and 23 as a result of grouping 21 and 22 can be targeted. 21 and 22 can no longer be considered. Therefore, even if grouping is performed in multiple layers, the resulting hierarchical structure expressed by this expression method results in a tree structure and not a net structure. Hereinafter, this hierarchical relationship is referred to as a group hierarchy. This hierarchical relationship is a hierarchical definition of the relationship between a single parent and a plurality of children.

In the group hierarchy defined in a multi-layered manner, the user of the drawing tool can directly operate only the graphic object at the highest level and the grouped object at the highest level. When an operation such as a change in position or size, a setting of a color, or the like is performed on the highest-level grouped object, the result of the operation is reflected on each of the children's objects. If there is a grouping object for grouping lower-level groups among the children, the result of the operation is further recursively reflected on the children. In this case, the grouping hierarchy of the values of the attributes set for the top-level grouping object can be regarded as propagation toward descendants. That is, the grouping objects other than the top-level object transmit the attributes transmitted from the parent to their children.

As described above, many graphic drawing tools provide a grouping of objects arranged on the screen, but this is not a system for creating an operable user interface, and is therefore not displayed. Does not support editing of hierarchical structure for area management. For example, clipping of a child display area by a parent display area as shown in FIG. 7A is not supported.

Although there are other methods for realizing grouping, even if the expression method is different, a tree structure is conceptually considered and expressed by each method.

[0025]

However, in the conventional method, there are the following problems when arranging a large number of user interface construction parts on a screen.

In the conventional user interface construction environment, it is necessary to operate a large number of views, and the complexity of the operation is reduced by organizing them in a hierarchical structure.

However, the views 21 'and 2 in FIG.
If a plurality of views to be treated as a group of views are separated on the screen as in 2 ', the view cannot be processed well in the view hierarchy. This is because it is impossible to define a parent-child relationship of the view hierarchy between the two. If these are grouped using the view hierarchy, a view having these as children is newly created. The parent view has a display area of a size that includes the entire display area of the child view. At this time, a part of the display area of the parent view that is not the display area of the child view occurs. For example, a portion between display areas of a child view. This area is hidden by the display of the new parent view, even though the display of the original parent view must be visible. If another view that was originally a sibling of the child view exists in the hidden area, there is a possibility that this view will also be hidden. Generally, a plurality of user interface construction components are desired to be grouped together, but in many cases, such influences on the display area are not desired. In addition, users
During the interface construction, some user interface construction parts are to be handled collectively, but ultimately all user interface construction parts may be required to be defined as siblings on the view hierarchy. As described above, it is impossible to use one of the group hierarchy and the view hierarchy as a substitute for the other. As described above, it is difficult to operate the views 21 ′ and 22 ′ of FIG. 8A collectively without the group hierarchy, and when performing the same operation on a plurality of user interface construction parts, It is necessary to perform operations on all user interface construction components. For this reason, the operation labor increases in proportion to the number of components for constructing the user interface.

To cope with this, a function corresponding to the group hierarchy is required, but this is not provided in a general user interface construction environment. Thus, these environments do not benefit from grouping. For example, in FIG. 9, on the user interface construction component 21 ', a total of three sets of component groups having the same form as the user interface construction component group in which 31', 32 ', and 33' are put together are arranged. However, even in such a case, 41 ', 42', 43 ', 51', 52 ', 5
3 'must be created and arranged individually. If 31 ', 32', and 33 'can be handled collectively, this is duplicated twice to obtain 4
It is possible to create parts corresponding to 1 ', 42', 43 ', 51', 52 ', 53'.

The above is a problem in a user interface construction environment that does not provide any grouping function.
In the user interface construction environment, functions similar to grouping are provided, and multiple views can be temporarily selected and operated, but relationships cannot be saved as groups etc. There are things that cannot be transformed. These environments do not benefit from multiple groupings. For example,
When creating the layout of FIG. 9 in such an environment, the user
After creating the interface construction parts 31 ', 32', and 33 ', they are selected and duplicated twice to create
1 ', 42', 43 ', 51', 52 ', 53' can be created. However, even if 31 ', 32', and 33 'are selected and copied, only 41', 42 ', and 43' can be created.
It exists as an interface construction component and cannot be operated as a single structure. Therefore, if it is necessary to operate a part of the part after creating it as shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary to operate the individual user interface construction parts again independently. If you want to operate more than one, you have to select again what you want to operate together. In other words, even if the grouping function can be used temporarily, a group hierarchy is not finally defined between the created user interface building components, and all of them are independent and independent. The problem is that it becomes a user interface construction component.

This problem becomes even more difficult when the user interface construction parts that are to be treated as a group are not arranged separately. Unlike the example in FIG. 9, when the arrangements of the objects that should belong to a plurality of groups are intricate or overlapping, all the user interface construction parts that should belong to a certain group are correctly selected on the screen. It is not always easy to do. In some cases, some of them are hidden under user interface construction parts that should belong to other groups and cannot be directly selected.

A user interface construction environment exists in which a plurality of views can be grouped in a multi-layered manner, but the number of aspects or the number of times the view hierarchy can be used is limited, and the group hierarchy and the view hierarchy cannot be used in any combination. I do. The view hierarchy is limited to a predetermined number of stages, and the scene to be used cannot be freely selected. In this environment, the view hierarchy cannot be used freely,
You cannot benefit from this. For example, clipping of a display area realized by a view hierarchy cannot be freely used. In an environment where the view hierarchy can be freely used, 41 ', 42', and 4 'are placed on the user interface construction component 31' as shown in FIG.
3 ', 51', 52 ', 53', 61 ', 62', 6
In the situation where 3 'is arranged, the size of 31' is changed without changing the size of 41 'to 63', and the display of the user interface construction parts arranged above as shown in FIG. The view hierarchy can be used in such a way as to hide.
Also, by utilizing this, by moving the position of the user interface construction component, it is possible to manage and limit the display area when creating an animation by the parent user interface construction component. Since clipping of the display area by such a view hierarchy is realized by the system, the burden on the user is reduced. However, if an attempt is made to perform such processing in an environment where the view hierarchy cannot be used freely, the shape of the user interface construction component must be changed as it is moved, or another user interface construction component must be used. The user must describe a process such as hiding unnecessary parts.

As described above, although both the view hierarchy and the group hierarchy are necessary, there is no user interface construction environment that can freely use both, and the construction of a complicated user interface is an object. The work was complicated depending on the complexity.

As described above, the conventional user interface control method has a problem to be solved. An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a user interface construction environment and a method of realizing a use environment that allow a user to easily handle a large number of user interface construction components.

[0034]

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned problem is solved by using the following method.

User interface prepared in advance
Arrange components for construction on the screen and interactively
Complex parts in a system that builds and uses faces
And the user interface construction parts and
Multiple by defining and building relationships between composite parts
Parts that can be treated as one component
Provides user interface construction.
User interface control method to facilitate
Display as a relationship defined between parts when defining products
View hierarchy relationship and display area management for area management
Is independent of the group hierarchy
Can be selected and used arbitrarily
You.

However, this method also has the following problems.
You. When performing operations on composite parts,
Ability to set various attributes easily for parts
Is often required. Release the hierarchical relationship and
Set the attribute for each part and define the hierarchical relationship again
Therefore, the effect of reducing the complexity of operation can be used
Because there is no.

There are many attribute setting operations for composite parts.
In the case of, the same
Setting attributes. Glue with drawing tools
When attributes are set for composite parts in a hierarchical structure,
A hand that the attribute propagates to the components that make up the composite part
Attribute setting for multiple graphic objects using the
Has succeeded in simplifying the operation.

A composite part is constructed while permitting both the view hierarchy and the group hierarchy in claim 1 to be multiplexed in an arbitrary order.
In the future framework, if it is possible to propagate the attribute using both the view hierarchy and the group hierarchy using a similar method, the attribute setting operation for multiple user interface construction parts can be performed. it can be made simple, if not available, must be done individually for each set of attributes of a user interface construction parts.

As described above, claim 1 of the user interface
In a source construction environment, setting an attribute for a user interface construction component at the time of constructing a complicated user interface has been a complicated task depending on the complexity.

The solution to this problem is the second aspect of the present invention.

(2) The invention according to claim 2 in addition to the user interface control method according to claim 1
For example, when a change in state is
Use the relationships used to construct this composite part
Then, with respect to the element parts constituting the composite part,
It tries to propagate the change of state.

However, this method also has the following problem.

When configuring a composite part, the view hierarchy and group
In the user interface construction that can select any one of the loop hierarchies and can propagate the attribute by using this relationship, the attribute is set by a single operation for multiple user interface construction parts It is possible to do. However, there are cases where it is inconvenient if the propagation is performed unconditionally.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, user interface construction parts 31 ', 41', 42 ', 43, and 3 which are created as a group using the view hierarchy.
When 2 ', 51', 52 ', and 53' are arranged on 21 ', 31' and 32 ' can be regarded as composite parts for constructing a user interface. The colors of 31 'and 32' that make up the background of these composite parts have been changed, but their children 41 ',
There is a case where it is not desired to influence 42 ', 43', 51 ', 52' and 53 '. If 31 'and 32' are grouped and set as a child in the group hierarchy of the grouped object 61 ', the attribute can be propagated via 61'. However, if propagation is performed unconditionally, 4
1 ', 42', 43 ', 51', 52 ', 53' are also affected.

Thus, propagation that occurs unconditionally does not always yield the desired result. The view hierarchy is originally a framework that supports the management of the display area of the view, and it is often desirable to propagate the position of the display area of each view, but in many cases the colors etc. It is desirable that propagation occurs only in a group hierarchy or the like, which is a consciously defined relationship.

If the form of propagation can be selected according to the type of hierarchy, ie, the type of relationship between components for constructing the user interface, control is performed so that attributes are propagated in the group hierarchy and not propagated in the view hierarchy. By doing so, the above problem can be avoided.
Although it is possible to realize a form in which attributes are not propagated to 1 ', 42', 43 ', 51, 52', and 53 ', in an environment where attributes are unconditionally propagated in all relations, a plurality of users are required. -It is impossible to update attributes selectively for interface building components by one operation,
Setting optional attributes for some of the many user interface building components has been a complex task depending on the complexity.

The solution to this problem is the third aspect of the present invention.

(3) The invention according to claim 3 The user interface control method according to claim 2
In addition, when propagating the state transmitted to the element parts,
View hierarchy relationship between element parts defined in composite parts
Or different types of group hierarchy
State propagation is performed.

[0049]

(1) The basic principle of the user interface control method according to the present invention.
Makes it possible to treat multiple parts as one
User interface construction by using
To manage the display area between multiple parts
View hierarchy relationships and groups independent of display area management
And arbitrarily select one of the two
The display area management.
Many user interfaces, including those that do not
It is possible to organize and operate face building parts into an arbitrary structure.
To reduce the complexity of these operations.
It is aimed at doing.

(2) The basic principle of the user interface control method according to the present invention.
In addition to the basic principle of the invention described in claim 1, a compound
When a state change is transmitted to a part,
Using the relationships used in constructing the parts,
By propagating the state change with respect to the component parts,
For multiple user interface building components
Attribute setting operation as if it were a single user interface
As if it were an attribute setting for a component for
And regardless of the display area management relationship
Attributes for many user interface building components
It is intended to reduce the complexity of
You.

(3) The basic principle of the user interface control method according to the present invention.
Is a composite component in addition to the basic principle of the invention described in claim 2.
The change in status reported to the
In transmitting the state to the element parts, the element parts
Whether the relationship between them is a view or group hierarchy
Multiple user interfaces, depending on
Perform attribute setting operations for component parts as if
Attribute setting for the interface construction parts.
Avoid setting attributes indiscriminately when performing as if
For many user interface building components
To reduce the complexity of setting attributes manually
It is aimed at.

[0052]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A description will be given of an example in which a function for organizing parts for constructing a user interface is realized by software in the state shown in the lower part of FIG. The upper part of FIG. 1 is an example of the structure used when managing the user interface construction parts organized as shown in the lower part of FIG. 1 by using the user interface control method of the present invention. 11, 21, 22, 31
Views 11 'to 11 in a situation where there are user interface construction parts of ~ 34, 41-48
Views 21 ', 22', 31 'to 34', 41 'to 4 corresponding to 21, 22, 31 to 34, 41 to 48
When arranging 8 'on 11', consider a state in which the following relationship is defined. 41 'and 42' are on the view hierarchy of 31 '
Children 43 'and 44' are children on the group hierarchy 32 '
, 45 'and 46' are children on the view hierarchy of 33 ', 4
7 'and 48' are children on the 34 'group hierarchy, 31'
And 32 'are children on the view hierarchy of 21', 33 'and 3
4 'is a child on the group hierarchy of 22', 21 'and 22'
Is a child on the 11 'view hierarchy. These relationships are illustrated in FIG.
It can be expressed in a tree structure like the upper part of. Where 11,
21, 31, and 33 are parents on the view hierarchy.
Reference numerals 2 and 34 denote grouping objects which are virtual parents on the group hierarchy.

(1) An embodiment of the invention described in claim 1 In order to realize this by software, a data structure for each user interface construction component is created, and a number is assigned as an identifier as in the lower part of FIG. . There are various known tree structure expression methods in software. For example, considering the order of children in one parent and considering them as siblings, considering three types of pointers: a pointer from the parent to the eldest son, a group of pointers connecting the siblings in a line, and a pointer from the child to the parent, A tree structure can be represented by providing three pointers per structure. Here, each of the pointer groups connecting the siblings in a line extends from the elder brother to the younger brother, and the pointer held by the child having no younger brother stores a special value indicating that there is no younger brother. A pointer to a parent of a data structure having no parent and a pointer to the eldest son of a data structure having no child are processed in the same manner.

A tree structure can be represented by the above data structure. The creation of a view hierarchy can be realized by constructing parent and child user interface construction parts in a tree structure, while the creation of a group hierarchy corresponds to a grouped object that is a virtual parent in the tree structure. This can be realized by introducing a data structure and configuring this and the user interface construction parts in a tree structure.

By combining both structures into one tree structure as shown in FIG. 1, both the relationship for managing the display area and the relationship unrelated to the management of the display area can be multiplexed in an arbitrary order. And can be made available.

(2) Embodiment of the Invention According to Claim 2 In FIG. 2, which is the same situation as in FIG. 1, the color is set for the grouped objects 22 so that FIG.
An example of setting the colors of the user interface construction parts 33 ', 45', 46 ', 47', and 48 ', which are shaded inside, will be described.

That is, by operating the grouping object 22, the color is set for each of the user interface construction parts included in the partial tree structure below the grouping object 22 in the tree structure shown in the upper part of FIG. Is the same as the state in which Since the grouped objects do not have a display form, no change in display occurs due to this.

In order to realize the function of propagating the state from the grouping object 22 which can realize this to another user interface construction component group by software, for example, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. What is necessary is just to carry out with the data structure corresponding to the component for construction. First, when this processing is performed in the grouping object 22, the processing proceeds to 10, 11, and 12 in the flowchart of FIG. 3, and proceeds to 30 assuming that the color is a kind of display attribute. Since there is a child in some hierarchical relationship, the process proceeds to 31, where attributes are set for the data structure corresponding to the user interface construction component 33 and the grouping object 34 which are direct children on the group hierarchy. Done. That is, it is transmitted. Thereafter, the process proceeds to 14 and ends. 33 and 3 transmitted attributes
In step 4, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is performed again. By transmitting the information recursively in this manner, the propagation of the state using the relation can be realized.

(3) Embodiment of the Invention According to Claim 3 In FIG. 4, which is in the same situation as FIG. 1, the color is set for the grouped objects 22 so that FIG.
An example of setting the colors of the user interface construction parts 33 ', 47', and 48 ', which are shaded inside, will be described.

That is, by operating the grouping object 22, a part of the user interface construction parts included in the partial tree structure below the grouping object 22 in the tree structure shown in the upper part of FIG. Is equivalent to the state in which the setting has been made. In particular,
The state is propagated to children on the group hierarchy, but not propagated to children on the view hierarchy. Since the grouped objects do not have a display form, no change in display occurs due to this.

In order to realize the state propagation function that can realize this by software, for example, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 may be performed using a data structure corresponding to each user interface construction component. First, when this processing is performed in the grouping object 22, the processing proceeds to 10, 11, and 12 in the flowchart of FIG. 5, and proceeds to 20 assuming that the color is a kind of display attribute. Since oneself is a grouping object, the processing is 20,2
The process proceeds to steps 1 and 30, and since there are children on the group hierarchy, the process proceeds to 31, where the data structure corresponding to the user interface construction component 33 and the grouping object 34, which are direct children on the group hierarchy. The attribute is set for. That is, it is transmitted. Thereafter, the process proceeds to 14 and ends.

The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is performed again on the component 33 and the component 34 to which the attribute has been transmitted.
In the part 33, the processing is 10, 11, 12, 20,
Proceeding to 14, the propagation ends here because the transmission of the condition to the child does not occur. In the part 34, the processing is 10,
The state proceeds to 11, 12, 20, 21, 30, 31, and 14, and the state is again transmitted to the child, and the propagation is continued. As a result, it is possible to selectively transmit the state as shown in FIG.

In this way, when transmitting recursively, the user
By performing different processing according to the type of the relationship between the components for constructing the interface, it is possible to realize different types of state propagation according to the type of the relationship between the components for constructing the user interface. .

Here, an example realized by only software is shown, but other realizing means can be used as long as information for managing a plurality of relationships can be held. Also, here, the two relationships are realized as one tree structure, but it is not essential that the whole is expressed as a single tree structure like this, and it may be expressed as multiple graph structures. obtain. When this graph structure includes a traveling route, there is a possibility that the propagation process does not stop with only the process of FIG. 5, but this is caused by a user interface construction component having a process of propagation generated by one operation. On the other hand, when the processing is performed twice or more, the processing can be avoided by not performing the processing. Specifically, for example, at the start of a series of propagation processing, an identifier for identifying it as another series of propagation processing is assigned, and the propagation processing with the latest identifier is performed on the user interface construction component side. It is possible to consider that the subsequent processing is unnecessary when it occurs twice or more consecutively for oneself.

[0065]

As described in detail above, the user interface control method of the present invention has the following advantages.

(1) Effects of the Invention According to Claim 1 In the user interface control method of the present invention, a plurality of
View hierarchy relationship between parts to manage the display area
And group floors that can be defined independently of display area management
Arbitrarily select one of the two layer relationships to compose the composite part
By allowing the user to
Multiple user interfaces using defined relationships
It is possible to freely structure the parts for construction,
Operations when handling a number of user interface building components
It is possible to reduce the complexity of the work.

Also, since relationships other than the view hierarchy can be used, user interface construction parts that are separately arranged as shown in FIG. 8A are grouped as shown in FIG. It is possible to handle.

When arranging a plurality of user interface construction parts grouped in the same structure as shown in FIG.
The user interface construction can be performed by duplicating the grouped user interface construction parts in a single operation while keeping the group together, and the relation defined as a group is preserved even after creation, so the user・
It is possible to always operate as a group not only when creating an interface but also when modifying it.

Furthermore, since the view hierarchy can be freely used, the display area of the user interface construction component group of the child can be changed by changing the size of the user interface construction component 31 'in FIGS. As in the example described above, the use of the view hierarchy for controlling the display area can be freely performed.

(2) Effects of the Invention According to Claim 2 According to the user interface control method of the present invention,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in 1, the state for a certain composite part
Elements that make up this composite part
State to element parts using the relationship defined for parts
Multiple user ins by propagating
Update the attributes of the interface building components in one operation
It is possible to do it by work.

For example, when any attribute is set for each of the user interface construction components below the user interface construction component 22 in the hierarchy of FIG.
It can be performed by one operation if it is regarded as setting of an attribute and is sequentially propagated from 22 to its descendants.

As described above, by transmitting various attributes such as the position, the size, and the color, it is possible to easily perform an attribute setting operation for a plurality of user interface building components.

(3) Effects of the Invention According to Claim 3 According to the user interface control method of the present invention,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in 2 above, when the change of the state transmitted to the composite part is propagated to the element parts constituting the composite part, the relation between the element parts is a view hierarchical relation or a group hierarchical relation. By performing different types of state propagation depending on whether there is an attribute change for multiple user interface construction parts,
It is possible to perform selective update for only a part of the user interface construction parts by one operation.

For example, in the hierarchy shown in FIG. 4, when the user interface construction components below the user interface construction component 22 are grouped together and attributes are set for each of them in one operation, the attributes are transmitted through the group hierarchy. If the propagation mode is specified so that is propagated but not propagated through the view hierarchy, the attribute update for multiple user interface construction parts can be selectively performed only by the hatched part by one setting operation. It is possible to do.

In the above, the effect of simplifying the operation on the screen of the user interface construction environment user at the time of constructing the user interface has been mainly described.・ Even when the interface is changed, it has the effect that the description of the processing can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure corresponding to one of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure corresponding to one of the embodiments of the invention described in claim 2;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the invention according to claim 2;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure corresponding to one of the embodiments of the invention described in claim 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing one embodiment of the invention according to claim 3;

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a display form for explaining the use of a view hierarchy in a method used in a conventional window system, and FIG. 6B is a diagram shown in FIG. 6A; FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure for managing a view hierarchy to be used in a method used in a conventional window system.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing clipping of a display area between views having a parent-child relationship as one of operations of view hierarchy management in a method used in a conventional window system, and FIG. FIG. 2B is a diagram showing storage of a relative position of a view display between views having a parent-child relationship as one of operations of view hierarchy management in a method used in a conventional window system.

8A is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure for managing a graphic object in a method used in a conventional drawing tool, and FIG. 8B is used in a conventional drawing tool. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data structure for realizing grouping of graphic objects according to a method.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a difference between a case where only a view hierarchy management in a method used in a conventional window system is used and a method used in a conventional drawing tool in combination when arranging a large number of views; FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example in which a view display area is controlled using a method used in a conventional window system.

11 is a diagram illustrating an example of control of a display area of a view when a part of the view is changed from the state of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example for explaining that there is a case where it is not desirable to unconditionally propagate a state through a relationship defined between views.

[Explanation of symbols]

11, 21, 22, 31, 31-34, 41-48 Parts for constructing user interface 11 ', 21', 22 ', 31'-34', 41'-4
8 'view

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A user interface prepared in advance
Arrange components for construction on the screen and interactively
In a system for constructing and using a face, a part for constructing a user interface is called a composite part.
By defining and building relationships between parts and composite parts
Can handle multiple element parts as if they were one
User interface by providing parts
With a user interface control method that facilitates construction
There is a relationship defined between components when defining composite components.
View hierarchy and display area to manage the display area.
Area management and independent group hierarchy
That you can freely use one of them
Characteristic user interface control method. 2. A state change for any one of the composite parts.
Element parts that constitute the composite part when
Utilizing the relationship defined between each component
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
User interface control method as described. 3. The state change transmitted to the composite part is transmitted to the composite part.
To propagate the state to the element parts that make up the composite part
Therefore, if the relationship between the element parts is a view
Different types of status transmission depending on the
3. The user-in according to claim 2, wherein sowing is performed.
Interface control method.